Avène – France’s Most Inspirational Spa

ucked away in a sunny corner of southern France is a spa totally dedicated to improving problem skin. While it offers no conventional beauty treatments, Avèneâs thermal spa has been transforming lives for over 250 years. Stay for a pleasant and relaxing three weeks and your reward will be long-term relief for your skin and less reliance on steroid creams.

Avène is a tiny picturesque village nestling at the foot of the CŽvannes Mountains, some 48 miles from Montpellier and 50 miles from the Mediterranean. Its modern spa center (the Avène Dermatolgical Hydrotherapy Center) is built on the site of the Sainte Odile thermal spring, where every hour, 70,000 liters of clear pure water well up from the depths of the earth at a constant temperature of 78.1¼F. Avène water has a low mineral content and its soothing and calming properties are caused by high concentrations of silicones, silicates and trace elements, accumulated during its 40-year journey through the mountains to the spring.

The anti-inflammatory properties of the spring and its efficacy in easing chronic skin disorders was first discovered around 1736. Despite being shipped to Chicago to successfully treat the most seriously burned victims of the Great Fire in 1870, Avene water was not officially declared of Îpublic benefitâ until 1874. Despite its fame, the village remained a sleepy backwater until 1975, when Pierre Fabre Laboratories acquired the spring and began extensive research into the waterâs biological properties.

A new spa center was opened in 1990, capable of accommodating 400 patients a day. A modern hotel was also built, linked to the thermal baths by a covered walkway, as well as comfortable self-catering apartments. The spa facilities were further updated and extended in 2004 with an elegant and modern new center that increased the spaâs capacity to 800 patients a day, while maintaining the same level of personalized care and treatment.

Unlike other spas, no pampering facials or manicures are offered here. This bright and airy spa is entirely devoted to easing the miseries of troublesome skin--from atopic dermatitis and other types of eczema to psoriasis, from allergies and itching to burns and skin healing problems. That said, the atmosphere is decidedly cheerful--more holiday spa than hospital, with all patients and accompanying visitors warmly welcomed and made to feel at home.

It helps to bring a letter from your doctor to your initial consultation with one of the dermatologists, who prescribes your treatment program, monitors your progress and carries out the filiform showers. The Îcureâ takes three weeks, although shorter courses are available, including a one-week one for sensitive skin. All the doctors speak English and the fees for medical consultations and treatments are quite reasonable.

Hydrotherapy includes running water baths (given at a temperature of 93.2˚F), general and localised showers, whirlpool baths and sprays, filiform showers (carried out by a doctor to relieve flaky skin), water compresses, underwater massages, cold cream or Akerat body wraps (for psoriasis), scalp treatments and lymphatic drainage. Drinking the spa water is an important part of the treatment and all patients are provided with a daily supply.

As Avène basks in over 2,700 hours of sunshine each year, heliotherapy (use of the sunâs rays) is a popular treatment for some skin conditions and complements the hydrotherapy. Taken in the solarium built on the roof of the thermal baths, the ultraviolet rays are strictly monitored and exposure time carefully calculated for each patient.

All adult treatments are given in private rooms in the spaâs state-of-the-art medical facilities, where the warm and friendly ambience enables patients to relax and gain maximum benefit from their therapy. Babies and children have specially designed communal treatment areas with small baths. Children have fun having treatments together--sharing makes the experience more enjoyable and less traumatic.

Treatment sessions are held in the mornings, leaving afternoons and evenings free for leisure time. Visitors can use the spaâs many facilities (tennis, bowls, walks, cycle rides, horse riding) or hire a car and explore this beautiful and unspoiled area of France.

Most patients find that their skin soon starts to improve. Numerous medical studies have confirmed that Avène thermal spring water reduces the sensitivity of allergy cells, strengthens cell membranes and helps the skin protect itself better. Recent research has also shown that in the year following treatment, an improvement is maintained for more than six months in 45 percent of patients. A year after treatment, many patients reported a 60 percent decrease in their use of steroid creams. Subsequent visits consolidate these results and further reduce the need for steroid treatment. A third of patients are children and the spa is particularly geared to caring for them and easing their parentsâ anxiety.

Denise Semple and her 14-year-old daughter Lara had tried countless topical emollients, ointments and steroid creams to cure their eczema without success. One day, while shopping in a health food shop in London, Denise picked up a flier about Avène and decided that she and her daughter would try the three week Îcure.â The experience improved their skin and changed their lives, so much so, that they returned the following year for a further three weeks. ãWe benefited enormously from our time in Avene,ä says Denise. ãEveryone was so friendly and the medical care was second to none. We enjoyed our daily spa baths, sprays and underwater massages and drank the prescribed amount of spa water every day. The condition of our skin, particularly my daughterâs chronic dermatitis, improved dramatically. It was summer, so we camped in Avene and went to the spa every morning for our treatments. On our second visit the following year, we stayed in the hotel where our meals were provided. I asked for a simple diet as I suffer with my digestion. To my delight, not only did my skin and digestion improve significantly, but I lost weight and regained a flat tummy! I was tempted to tuck into Laraâs delicious puddings at dinner, but resisted and ate fresh fruit instead.ä

Denise and Lara also found the spaâs free educational workshops helpful and reinforced the importance of good skincare routines. Workshops include Baby Massage, Corrective Make-up, Anti-Scratching and Relaxation. Denise recalls, ãI realised Iâd been irritating my skin all these years by using too hot water, rubbing my skin instead of patting it dry and not moisturising correctly.

Diane Tazzyman from Yorkshire has just returned from her third visit to Avène. A former chiropodist, she developed acute eczema as a result of wearing latex gloves at work. Flaking, irritated skin broke out on her face and neck and eventually covered her entire body. She was admitted to hospital in a shocked and distressed state, where doctors discovered she had an allergy to rubber. Prescribed steroid creams failed to help her condition, and she was put on an immunosuppressant and antihistamines. After being discharged from hospital, her skin was still sore and irritated and even one of her eyes was affected. Then she heard about Avène and decided to go to France for treatment. ãI went for three weeks the first time,ä she recalls, ãAs soon as I arrived, I knew Iâd made the right decision. The staff were so caring and kind.ä One of the spaâs three resident doctors prescribed Avène mineral water to drink, showers, theraputic spa baths and a special fine needle spray for her irritated skin. At first the treatment was quite painful,ä says Diane. ãHowever, by the second week, the patches of eczema were shrinking and by the end of the third week the improvement was remarkable.ä

Gentle skin care products and sprays of Avène thermal spring water are manufactured in a small plant adjacent to the spa, so Diane took home several sprays  and tubes of Avene Tolerance Extreme cream. Her skin improvement lasted several months and is still better than before her first visit. She spritzes her skin regularly with the spray and keeps her face well moisturised with the skin cream. The Avène treatment has stopped her skin itching and enabled Diane to come off the antihistamines. After a top-up visit to Avène this summer, she hopes to come off the immunosuppressant, too, and slowly rebuild a normal family life.

The medical profession is gradually becoming aware of Avèneâs unique benefits and some doctors are recommending the spa to their patients. Dr Julie Beattie, a GP from Kingston-upon-Thames in the UK visited Avène and is convinced about the effectiveness of the therapy. She says, ãPsoriasis and atopic dermatitis are common chronic skin conditions which can be very severe for some people. Unfortunately conventional medical treatment canât always control the severity of the symptoms. For such patients especially, the Avène spa offers genuine long-term improvement in the condition of the skin and a considerable reduction in steroid use.ä

Etablissement thermal d'Avène
34260 AVENE LES BAINS ö France
www.avenecenter.com
For information and help:
Tel: 00 33 (0) 4 67 23 41 87 Fax: 00 33 (0)4 67 23 44 71
Email:contact@avenecenter.com

The Avène spa is open from early April to late October.
3-week prescribed program of treatments 420€
Medical fees and consultations 100€ ö 120€
Mineral water and clean bathrobes are provided daily (adults with children should bring child robe). Guests with private insurance should contact their provider to see if their treatments are covered, as this is a medically approved dermatological spa.

Hotel Val dâOrb (3 star)
Tel 00 33 (0) 4 67 23 44 45 Fax 00 33 (0) 4 67 23 39 07
Facilities include direct connection to Spa Centre, spacious well-equipped bedrooms, restaurant, bar, lounge, garden, swimming pool. Daily rates according to season from 101€ to 125€ for two people (includes breakfast and dinner) or 110.50€ to 114.00€ for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Slightly higher rates for meal choices other than the menu of the day.

For other hotels and self-catering accommodation in the area, .contact the Avene tourist office Tel: 00 33 (0) 4 67 23 43 38. Fax: 00 33 (0) 4 6723 16 95. Web: www.avene.info

Getting there:
By road - A71 to Clermont-Ferrand, then A75 exit Lodève
By air ö Flights into either Montpellier or Toulouse then taxi transfer.
By rail: Eurostar to Paris; TGV high speed train Paris to Montpellier; local connection Montpellier -Le Bousquet dâOrd (6 miles from Avène)

Sprays of Avene spa water, skincare products and the corrective make-up range are available from pharmacies worldwide.

Catherine Beattie is a UK-based health and travel writer/publisher with a lifelong interest in spas. Her credentials include writing and publishing several consumer guides including Healthy Breaks in Britain & Ireland (the UK's first spa guide) and The Really Useful Guides. Catherine was founding editor of Spa Health & Beauty magazine and contributes to many UK national newspapers and magazines including The Sunday Times, The Express, Here's Health and Harpers & Queen. She is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, Guild of Health Writers and Spa Business Association.